The start of the summer usually marks the time when the following season's calendar begins to take shape. Yet it could be more complex than you think...
The start of the Spanish Grand Prix saw Fernando Alonso take the lead; He's still a crowd pleaser, but attendance figures are down
2012 marks the eleventh consecutive season in which there has been at least one calendar alteration compared to the previous season. This year Formula One welcomes the United States back after a five year hiatus, Bahrain returned after a one year break due to political instability, while the circus has waved goodbye to Istanbul Park and the majestic Turn 8.
Over the weekend, spectator numbers were significantly down at the Circuit de Catalunya. Prior to the arrival of Fernando Alonso, the grandstands were fairly empty as Formula One was not a popular spectator sport in Spain. Even today there are five MotoGP races – heavily attended – on the Iberian Peninsula. Crowd numbers peaked during the height of Alonsomania in 2007, when 140,000 people flocked to Barcelona to see their hero in his sole McLaren season. Such figures hurried through plans for a second Spanish race around the streets of Valencia. The race may never have been exciting, but it continued to attract fans supporting their hero.
Valencia Street Circuit
But there’s been a problem. Fernando Alonso is still extremely popular, but the financial crisis has hit Spain badly. Unemployment figures suggest that twenty-four per cent of the adult population is out of work and consequently Formula One isn’t a necessity when families are trying to put food onto the table. Thus figures have dropped at the Circuit de Catalunya. Red Bull partners Infiniti claim that 80,000 people attended the Spanish Grand Prix last Sunday and that figure seems about accurate. It isn’t a particularly dire figure, but the chief of the circuit is reported as saying that anything less than 100,000 would be disastrous. It’s perhaps unsurprising that with the Valencia government also keen to cut costs, a race-sharing deal has been confirmed, although strangely not officially, from next season. Thus Barcelona and Valencia will alternate and Formula One loses an event, albeit one that is universally unpopular. In the longer run, it remains to be seen what will happen when Fernando Alonso retires although such an event is hopefully far off.
There was an F1 demonstration in Russia last year
One of F1’s main hopes for 2014 is the inaugural Russian Grand Prix. However, the political elections have halted progress in Sochi. Returning President Vladimir Putin is behind the project, but it remains to be seen whether the Winter Olympics in the city the same year will hinder progress. As ever with anything to do with the Olympics – as Greece in particular will testify – they are very expensive and cost a lot more than estimates suggest. So if money becomes an issue, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out which sport will get shafted. A major reorganisation of the regional government is taking place in the area, with Mikhail Yakovlevich Kapirulin no longer in charge of the Olympic project, and plans for the subsequent grand prix. There is optimism that the race will go ahead, largely because there’s still over two years to go and Bernie Ecclestone will inevitably push for a Russian Grand Prix more than he would other races, for Russia is commercially a huge country waiting to be unlocked. Formula One has a Russian team (albeit based in the UK) in the form of Marussia, while in the press release attached to Petrov’s move to Caterham, team principal Tony Fernandes comments that the hiring of the ‘Vyborg rocket’ was helped by keeping ‘a realistic eye on the global economic market’
The electing of Francois Hollande has complicated proceedings in France
Heading back to Western Europe and we have the on-going saga that is the French Grand Prix. A deal was supposed to be signed by former Prime Minister Francois Fillon at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix; it would have seen the Ecclestone-owned Paul Ricard return to the calendar in a rotation deal with the struggling Spa Francorchamps circuit. Yet the deal was called off seemingly at the last minute. A few weeks ago, Bernie said the deal was done and it was just the details being sorted. However, the deal has not been done. With the French elections approaching, it was perhaps unsurprising that Bernie was trying to hurry through the deal while the pro-F1 Fillon still had the authority. As expected, Nicolas Sarkozy was humbled and socialist Francois Hollande is now France’s president. When questioned, Hollande said he would be in favour of a French Grand Prix. However, he does have other, somewhat more major, issues to deal with. So don’t expect movement on the return of France for some time and then don’t expect Hollande to be quite so enthusiastic in providing the funds that Sarkozy and Fillon planned. There are ideas for Magny Cours to be upgraded; the long-promised AutoRoute linking Paris with the remote track has been built, while motorsport-related investment in the region is waiting for the green light. Although beware: the Nurburgring rollercoaster (why?) has caused financial problems for the Eifel circuit, while Ferrari world in Abu Dhabi hasn't been overly popular. So the move could be good for France, but what about Belgium? The circuit is in a dire state financially, although luckily the environmental protests against the track seem to have subsided lately. Nevertheless, Spa has been pinning its hopes on sharing their race with France in order to cut costs. It may be a case of Spa biannually or not at all. While there's been little reported from Germany lately, both the Nurburgring and Hockenheimring are struggling financially. It acts as a warning shot to those who believe a race-sharing deal is a wise option; if anything it may be worse. But what can you do in a lose-lose situation?
Will New Jersey usurp Austin?
Over in Austin, there seems to have been one setback after another. Circuit wise, the track should be good to go fairly soon. The initial layer of tarmac is down on some areas of the track, yet off-track matters have been rather negative. Formula One’s return to the USA is undoubtedly positive, yet the announcement of a race in New Jersey for 2013 – with the New York skyline as a backdrop – has inevitably meant that there is slightly less excitement about Austin. Fans attending the race will need to buy horrendously expensive tickets in a ludicrously complex way, while roads around the track are in dire requirement of an upgrade. They will be improved, but not before the inaugural race. Shades of Silverstone pre-A43 improvements spring to mind. No-one’s really sure what role Tavo Hellmund is playing anymore, but you can be sure that being in America, someone somewhere is being sued over something.
Korean GP: Middle of nowhere, financial mess, sparse crowds. What next?
The annual doubts over the Australian Grand Prix have come and gone, while the Chinese Grand Prix seems safe after a high attendance at the event last month. Over to Korea. It doesn’t help that the circuit was built in the middle of nowhere, but upon arrival in 2011 many teams were stunned at the lack of development since the inaugural 2010 race. Some teams reported that there was food present that had been left the year before. Organisers of the race expressed dissatisfaction with their current deal with the Formula One management (bad move boys, bad move) although confirmed earlier this season that they had managed to negotiate a newer deal. Kang Hyo-seok, the race organiser, still expects a loss of over $25m this year. That is not sustainable and it is unlikely the race will return in 2013. Very few people would miss it.
So while there are frequent reports of a country wanting to join the Formula One circus – no-one is quite sure about the latest regarding Argentina - most of these plans will never come to fruition and are simply political jostling. Several countries want to make cuts and Formula One is an easy place to save money. F1 has twenty races in 2012, with 21 planned for 2013, but for how much longer?
